The bar looked the same, lots of heavy stone and glass windows with leaded alloy frames, notoriously easy to break.The bar looked the same, lots of heavy stone and glass windows with leaded alloy frames, notoriously easy to break. There was a burning firepit in the center, arranged with a cone grated center to allow lots of air in, and reflect heat out into the room. The cone-shaped chimney above was still painted a kind of light vile-green color, but the place was exquisitely clean, as always. I walked over to the bar and said, "What's she been drinking?" Mike, a tawny Felinzi, looked at me, said "Secobarbital." I nodded, looked up at Rhys, who turned his head away. I walked over to the booth and slid in opposite her. It was one of those round booths that slid all the way, with a "D" shaped table in the middle. Her head was down on the table, and she didn't raise it when I sat. So I got her attention; I picked up one of the glasses and threw towards the firepit that burned in the center of the bar. The glass flew across the radius of the firepit, mysteriously shattered in mid-air and all of the glass fell into the pit with a loud crash. A good display of forcefield for effect. She looked up. "Wh'dd'ya wan?" she said. "Come home with me, Dr. Traken." "Nizza," she said, lowering her head back to the table. "Excuse me?" I said, not quite catching it. "Nyssa. Tha'z m'name. Silen' 'P' en-wi-es-es-ey. P'nyssa. Other'n th' 'P,' yu ga' me tha' name, Shardik. Yu shud know tha.'" Her voice was very slurred. "Come on, P'nyssa." I rose and grabbed ahold of her shoulder. She tried to push me away, but I held on tight. "Leave me alone!" she shouted. "Why?" I asked. "Because you don' wan' me. I can tell." I bent down and balanced on my toes. "P'nyssa..." She looked up and cast about for a second, I guess trying to see me clearly, then focussing finally at where I knelt on the floor. "No, you lissen to me, Shardik. Working wit' you is suppozzed to be the high poin' of my carr. |